Polymer Cleaning Material for Wafer Particle Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wafer cleaning methods face challenges in removing small particulate contaminants without damaging delicate features on semiconductor wafers, especially as feature sizes decrease and become more fragile, with contaminants often settling in hard-to-reach areas.
Innovation Solution
The use of cleaning materials containing polymers with large molecular weights that form long chains and networks, capable of capturing and entrapping contaminants through polar-polar molecular interactions and hydrogen bonding, which are fluid and deformable to avoid damaging wafer features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical force is applied to remove particulate contamination, then particle removal efficiency is improved, but feature damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical cleaning methods (brushes, pads, slurries) with a chemical cleaning mechanism using polymers. The polymers adhere to particles through polar-polar interactions and are removed via hydrolysis, eliminating the need for mechanical forces that could damage fragile features while maintaining effective particle removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the cleaning mechanism from mechanical to chemical by using polymers with specific molecular weights and polar functional groups. The polymers' ability to form strong polar interactions with particles and their controlled hydrolysis at different pH levels provides a parameter-based cleaning approach that avoids mechanical damage while achieving high particle removal efficiency.
2Manufacturing precision
If feature sizes are reduced to increase device density, then manufacturing precision is improved, but cleaning difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
By replacing mechanical cleaning with polymer-based chemical cleaning, the method can effectively reach and clean smaller, more intricate features without the physical contact and force that would damage high-aspect-ratio structures. The polymers can penetrate and adhere to particles in difficult-to-reach areas of scaled-down devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The polymers act as intermediaries between the cleaning process and the particles on the wafer surface. Through their polar functional groups, they mediate the removal process by adhering to particles and being subsequently removed via hydrolysis, providing a gentle yet effective cleaning mechanism for fragile, small-featured devices.
3Productivity
If polar functional groups are added to polymers to enhance particle capture, then particle removal efficiency is improved, but polymer complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The polymers are designed with polar functional groups localized at specific positions along the polymer chain, rather than requiring complex overall polymer structures. This local quality approach allows the polymers to effectively capture particles through polar interactions while maintaining relatively simple polymer compositions and synthesis pathways.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These materials effectively remove contaminants without damaging the wafer features, demonstrating superior particle removal performance by forming long chains and networks that trap and prevent re-deposition of particles, improving cleaning efficiency and preventing feature damage.
Implementation Method 1
The polymeric compound of the polymers can contain a polar functional group, which can establish polar-polar molecular interaction with hydrolyzed particles on the wafer surface
Implementation Method 2
In addition, the polar functional group can also establish hydrogen bonds with the hydrolyzed particles on the wafer surface
Implementation Method 3
The van der Waals forces between the polymers and the particles help remove the particles from the wafer surface
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments of the present invention provide improved materials for cleaning patterned substrates with fine features. The cleaning materials have advantages in cleaning patterned substrates with fine features without substantially damaging the features. The cleaning materials are fluid, either in liquid phase, or in liquid/gas phase, and deform around device features; therefore, the cleaning materials do not substantially damage the device features or reduce damage all together. To assist removing of particles from the wafer (or substrate) surfaces, the polymeric compound of the polymers can contain a polar functional group, which can establish polar-polar molecular interaction and hydrogen bonds with hydrolyzed particles on the wafer surface. The polymers of a polymeric compound(s) with a large molecular weight form long polymer chains and network. The long polymer chains and/or polymer network show superior capabilities of capturing and entrapping contaminants, in comparison to conventional cleaning materials. The polymeric compound(s) of the polymers may also include a functional group that carries charge in the cleaning solution. The charge of the functional group of the polymers improves the particle removal efficiency.